DETROIT — Nothing that happened here Friday, in a sluggish game between two teams going nowhere this season, could affect the future of the Angels as much as something that happened in Japan. The ...

If you want to win over the hearts of jaded sports journalists, disaffected Mets fans, and your average cynical New Yorker, take a note from playbook of the new Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui, who met NY ...

CLEVELAND — David Eckstein said he would endorse the Angels’ potential pursuit of Kazuo Matsui, even though he would lose his job as the Angel shortstop if the team acquired the Japanese star.

2005-05-29 04:00:00 PDT Miami-- As Kazuo Matsui pondered how he had gone from an international iron man to a training-room regular in one year, he bowed his head and scanned the floor in front of his ...

As if there wasn't enough hubbub surrounding Kazuo Matsui's first game in the majors -- 68 members of the Japanese media attended the Mets' opener at Atlanta -- the young shortstop created an ...

As Kazuo Matsui’s towering blast hung in mid-air, the Astros second baseman jogged down the first-base line leaning slightly to his left, as if to will the ball into fair territory. Matsui’s ...

The Seibu Lions set only one ground rule for interviewing their superstar shortstop Kazuo Matsui: don't ask him whether he wants to come to the United States to become the next Ichiro. In the wake of ...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Kazuo Matsui hasn’t had much luck at the plate during the Grapefruit League, collecting only three hits and never more than one in any game. Yet, compared to last year, this spring ...

The Rockies would like to improve upon Melvin Mora, which is understandable, given Mora's age and bat. But that doesn't mean bringing Kazuo Matsui back is the answer for the Rockies, who are ...

Here’s a trade deficit that the WTO can’t fix. Every year, it seems, Japan sends its best baseball player to America’s major leagues while the U.S. ships back geriatric has-beens and misfits. This ...

In the classic samurai film Yojimbo, rival factions bid for the services of a mercenary who has wandered into town. To which side will this mysterious swordsman give his allegiance? Kazuo Matsui is ...

In case you haven't noticed, the track record of Japanese stars heading to the cauldron of Northeast baseball is not real good. Sure, the Pacific time zone teams have done well with Asian players: ...